The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1887-02-18
miscellaneous.
DEER CREEK FARMERS CLUB
How 20 Improve Poor land.

February meeting at the residence of Mr..
Thomas Lochary, Mr. r. John Rogers, Presi-
dentin, the chair.
Messrs. John Moorcs, WIN. F. HAYS and
VIM. ID. Lee, a committee Of inspection, in
reporting spoke in complimentary terms of
the improvement Of the farm since Mr.. Loeb
AIRY has had it and oftle excellent appearance
of his cattle and sheep. He is feeding some
cattle in the stable, which are to be sold in
May or June. He gives them each 8 pounds
of corn and cob meal day, but will soon be-
gin to feed them rs much as they will cat.
Tue question discussed Was as follows:
What is the best and cheapest plan of re-
storing fertility to worn-out lands?"
Mr.. Lochary said There is so much diff
ference in soils that no general rule can be
laid down. Much depends, too, on the kind
of crops the land is intended TO produce. If
the land is fiat or wet, the first thing to do
is to drain it we'll Money and labor are both
lost in trying to improve wet land. Farm
ers do not ditch enough Where stone are
convenient they are the most economical to
use. He had tried the experiment of bring
ing up poor land without blowing, and found
it could be done, but il is not the cheapest
way. In improving WORKOUT land clover
ought to be one of the principal crops. AS
il runs out the land should be plowed and
this would be of advantage to stiff land
Very little manure or bone Will start clover
growing. Farmers should aim to get the
market price of their crops by feeding stock.
He advised putting out manure as soon as
possible, and not let it heat and wash about
the barn. If he has but little manure he
would make it go over as much ground as
possible.
Geo E. Silver's idea about making poor
10, to 10 sal inr II
berally, as far as you can, and supplement il
clover and pillow it under you have started
the process of improvement. The more
literally you apply manure and the more
carefully you attend TO your crops the oner
you will get your land in q state of fertility.
Mr.. Silver also advised feeding the grain aud
provender raised on the farm TO stock, even
if you get thereby only the market value of
your crops, for the manure will pay for the
care of the stock. Coarse litter, fodder, corn,
SC, will do as much good if scattered or fed
on the ground, as when put in the barn yard,
by the protection they afford the land.
Benz. Silver, Jr., said the way to improve
poor land is by farming it judiciously and
applying fertilizers. Barn yard manure is
the best but if we haven't that. we should
resort to artificial fertilizers and clover If
the place is SO poor that 1t don't sprout
clover he would be doubtful about attacking
it. Clover is the best and cheapest fertilizer
we have and WE don't use half enough of il.
Last year the complaint of poor crops of
sugar corn was general all over the coun-
ty. He had a clover sod, which was plowed
the first of June and planted in sugar corn,
which, Notwithstanding the unfavorab cisea-
son, brought n good crop of corn One of
the fertlizing powers of clover is that it
shades the land If you place bunch of
brush on the ground and let 1t lie year,
when you take it away you will find the
ground under it richer than before, Corn
stalks, Also by shading the ground, do as
much good If fed in the field as when tramp.
ed in the barn yard and hauled out The
best and cheapest plan of improvement
would be to use all the barn yard manure
you can and follow it up with clover,
VIM. Munnikhuysen, said there is nothing
like barn yard manure. His plan has been
to apply it as heavily as it could be plowed
under and finishing out with other fertilizers,
He believes in feeding stock in the field as
much as possible and spreading manure from
the stables as soon as made. 1t will not do
to haul it over soft ground in summer, but in
winter cutting the ground little will do
no harm. There is no use in making COM
post in the barn yard, Much benefit is derived
from shading tho ground, Wet land should
be drained before fertilizers are applied
Nothing in the world is better than clover TO
improve land. He believed it profitable to
top,dress grass lands with commercial fertil-
zers, If man can wait year for his profit.
He had also sowed salt on grass lands with
benefit,
s. II. Gibson thought 1t better to feed in
the field than In the barn yard.
Judge Waters said that any Of our lands,
with proper farming and judicous use of
fertilizers can be made rich. His plan would
be first to get clover 10 growing. He would
pillow the clover under for wheat. Sow the
land again in clover Then SOW bone on the
clover and let II lie without much use until
the clover is two years old. By this time the
roots are well formed. Then pillow it up for
corn or anything else and you will be Gel tain
to get crop. He advised hauling out barn
yard manure at once, and the cutting up of
fodder, for the sake of the manure, rather
than hauling out the corn stalks unbroken,
Another objection TO feeding cattle on the
ground is that you don't get the manure
spread as evenly rs II ought 10 be spread
Judge Walters agreed with Mr.. Lochary in
the advantage Of making barn yard manure
cover as much ground as possible, If not
enough to cover the ground well he would
supply the deficiency with bone dust. His
experience, he said, was decidedly in favor of
applying bone dust ON sod, tfapplied to
plowed ground good deal of IL washes
away. He would let the bone dust lie on the
sod at least year, where the m0is ure will
decompose it, before blowing. He regarded
bone dust as the safest and most reliable fer
tilizcr, and while it acts as quickly as phos-
pilates it does not quit as soon. The subsoil,
particularly if red clay, generally contains
many elements of plant food and land can Of
ten be benefited by turning up few inches
ofit 1t will not do, however, to turn up
white oak subsoil,
James W. Hanna remarked that the better
you feed the land the better it will feed you,
VIM. F, Hays said he could not think of
any better plain of restoring lost fertility than
those already suggested, unless it would be
to invest money in feed instead of in feriili-
Zera and feed more stock Mr. Hava Waa of